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Learn More About the Clifton StrengthsFinder Theme

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information -- words, facts, books, and quotations -- or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don't feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It's interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

Action Items for This Theme

Look for jobs in which you are charged with acquiring new information each day, such as teaching, research, or journalism.

Identify your areas of specialization and actively seek more information about them.

Make time to read books and articles that stimulate you. Schedule the times.

Many of us buy into the myth that talent and motivation are totally separate things. A strengths-based approach, however, debunks this. Simply put, your talents are your motivations; they're usually inseparable. A strengths expert explains.

Does the strengths approach work with manufacturing employees? This is a question strengths experts hear often from senior executives, and the assumption is that blue-collar workers aren't interested in sharing who they are. Sam's story proves that wrong.